The world's first commercial 5G mobile network is criticized: the signal is too hard to find

        Verizon, the largest telecom operator in the United States, launched a 5G ultra-wideband network in Chicago and Minneapolis this week, claiming to be the world's first 5G commercial mobile service network that can be used with smartphones. Judging from the test results seen so far, the debut was not a good start.

　　CNET editor Jessica Dolcourt said that she used Motorola's Moto Z3 phone to use the 5G network near a Verizon 5G node for a full six hours. The experience made her "frustrated," "confused," and "completely crazy."

　　Dolcourt said that Speedtest network test results showed that sometimes 5G data speeds reached Verizon's promised 600 megabits per second (Mbps), sometimes it was close to 200Mbps, and sometimes the phone showed that it was a 5G network, but it operated like 4G.

　　Chris Welch, editor of The Verge, said that he stayed in Chicago for 18 hours and used Verizon's 5G network. He found that it was "very difficult" to find 5G network coverage throughout the city, and the signal was "quite rare." Even near the 5G node, if it was near the doors and windows of the building, there was still 5G signal, but it disappeared a few steps away.

　　Welch uses Motorola's 5G phone Moto Mod. He said that in places with 5G signals, data speeds are much faster than Verizon's 4G LTE network, averaging 400 to nearly 600Mbps, almost ten times that of his iPhone XS Max. But upload speeds are slower than expected, and some Motorola employees told him that they had once been as low as nearly 60Mbps when they tested it themselves. The following is a test network speed chart shown by Welch.

　　Verizon later told CNBC that it did not know where the above media tested it. Mike Haberman, Verizon's vice president of network, said that when searching for 5G networks, the display of the mobile phone icon will be different from before. The 5G connection icon will only appear when the user wants to find 5G. Even in the 5G coverage area, the 5G signal icon will not be seen. This is different from the 4G LTE network. It will take several years to modify it.

　　Of course, as an emerging technology, we can't expect mobile 5G networks to be perfect as soon as they come out. But Dolcourt believes that Verizon can invest human and financial resources to correct its mistakes before letting users spend a lot of money to use unreliable and abnormal 5G.

　　Regardless of the performance of the debut, every move of 5G applications affects the market. On Wednesday, the day when Verizon announced its 5G commercial network service, the US chip stock index VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) closed higher, approaching the record high set in March last year, and up 35% from the low point at the beginning of the year.

　　The factor that strongly boosted chip stocks is the rise of the 5G concept. With the vigorous development of the Internet of Things industry, the market demand for 5G technology will be even stronger.

　　Wu Chaoze, director of CICC Research Institute, recently gave three specific application scenarios for 5G: eMBB, enhanced mobile broadband, which will be used commercially in 2019 and 2020; mMTC, massive machine-type connections; and uRLLC, highly reliable and low-latency communications.

　　Neil Mawston, an analyst at market research firm Strategy Analytics, predicts that 10 to 20 5G-enabled mobile phones may be released worldwide this year, but just like the launch of previous next-generation Internet phones, users may face "initial adjustment difficulties" - that is, high prices, short battery life, heavy device weight and large hardware.

　　As of writing, SMH rose above $112 during trading on Friday and is expected to close near its all-time high again as it did on April 3. Verzion fell slightly by 0.03%.